KARACHI: Four people were killed on Friday as members of a separatist rebel group attempted to storm the Chinese Consulate in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, police said.
Security forces killed all three gunmen before they could enter the consulate. The attackers belonged to the Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group fighting for independence from the Pakistani state and opposed to Chinese projects in the restive southwestern Baluchistan province.
“The terrorists couldn’t enter the main building due to timely action by law enforcement agencies,” Karachi police chief Dr. Amir Ahmed Shaikh said. “We will clear the area shortly.”
He confirmed two policemen and three attackers were killed.
“The consulate staff are completely safe,” police official Salman Waheed told Arab News. “We have found explosives and hand grenades, whereas further search is underway.”
The army’s media wing, ISPR, said terrorists attempted to enter the consulate after the attack.
“Three terrorists killed, all Chinese safe, situation under control,” ISPR said.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted that “security institutions saved Karachi from a big conspiracy today.” He vowed the government would investigate the incident.
The consulate is in an area considered to be the city’s Red Zone and is heavily guarded.
Twitter suspended the official account of the BLA hours after the attack
Four killed as separatist rebels attack Chinese consulate in Karachi
Four killed as separatist rebels attack Chinese consulate in Karachi
- Explosives and hand grenades found
- Consulate staff safe, say authorities
Security forces kill four militants in Pakistan’s volatile southwest, military says
- Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency
- The Balochistan government has recently established a threat assessment center to strengthen early warning, prevent ‘terrorism’ incidents
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces gunned down four militants in an intelligence-based operation in the southwestern Balochistan province, the military said on Tuesday.
The operation was conducted in Balochistan’s Kalat district on reports about the presence of militants, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.
The “Indian-sponsored militants” were killed in an exchange of fire during the operation, while weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the deceased, who remained actively involved in numerous militant activities.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored terrorist found in the area,” the ISPR said in a statement.
There was no immediate response from New Delhi to the statement.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency involving Baloch separatist groups, including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF).
Pakistan accuses India of supporting these separatist militant groups and describes them as “Fitna Al-Hindustan.” New Delhi denies the allegation.
The government in Balochistan has also established a state-of-the-art threat assessment center to strengthen early warning and prevention against “terrorism” incidents, a senior official said this week.
“Information that was once scattered is now shared and acted upon in time, allowing the state to move from reacting after incidents to preventing them before they occur,” Balochistan Additional Chief Secretary Hamza Shafqaat wrote on X.
The development follows a steep rise in militancy-related deaths in Pakistan in 2025. According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) last month, combat-related deaths in 2025 rose 73 percent to 3,387.
These included 2,115 militants, 664 security forces personnel, 580 civilians and 28 members of pro-government peace committees, the think tank said.
